NRMCA, Coalition Submit Comments on Potential New Overtime Rule

Last week, the Partnership to Protect Workplace Opportunity (PPWO), of which NRMCA is a member, filed comments with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) on any potential new regulations concerning overtime compensation regulations. The PPWO is advocating for "a system that promotes maximum flexibility in structuring employee hours, career advancement opportunities for employees and clarity for employers when classifying employees." The comments also highlighted the need for lowering "unnecessary regulatory burdens."

The original overtime rule was finalized in May 2016, but was suspended by the courts last November and subsequently vacated by the same court this past August. It would have included:

• Raising the salary threshold for overtime pay from $455/week or $23,660 to $913/week or rather $47,476 per year (which is less than the proposed $50,440 or $970/week); 

• Increasing the highly-compensated employee threshold from $100,000 to $134,004;

• Updating the salary threshold every three years, starting in 2020 (will be tied to the 40th percentile of full-time salaried workers in the lowest income region of the country); 

• Amending the salary basis test to allow employers to use nondiscretionary bonuses and incentive payments (commissions) to satisfy up to 10 percent of the new standard salary level; and

• NOT changing the "duties test" for executive, administrative and professional employees (which was originally hinted at in the proposal).